SEPTA Strike: Alternate modes of transportation? (Chester, Freedom: transferring to, buying, universities)

[Sassygirl18]

Can you guys give me some advice. I am trying to prepare for the SEPTA strike, assuming it happens.

I live in Cherry Hill and my usual mode of transportion is taking the PATCO line to 8th and Market and transferring to the Market Frankford El. I take the El to 40th & Market which is close to where I work.

Any suggestions? What would be the best alternate way to get to work? (I do drive, but I imagine traffic and parking would be a nightmare...it's already hard to park in the area where I work on a regular day).

[CHIP72]

You might be able to take the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line from Cherry Hill to 30th Street Station and then walk from there (or possibly take some sort of University of Pennsylvania shuttle, if you work there and such a shuttle exists). I know the AC Line schedules are fairly limited at rush hour times though.

[solibs]

Yeah. If you take PATCO everyday just give the FREEDOM card a rest and take the NJTransit train to 30th St. From there you can take the LUCY shuttle - you pick it up on the 30th St. (west)side of the train station and it looks like you want to take the Green Loop to get there and the Gold Loop to get home.

http://www.septa.org/service/sched/maps/LUCY.pdf

If there are schedule conflicts with NJTransit you can always take the Speedline to 8th & Market, walk through the Gallery and pick up any westbound train at Market East and take it to 30th St. Station and follow the LUCY directions above.

[Sassygirl18]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Looks like Rendell ordered talks to continue and no strike (at least for now). But it's good to know about my alternatives. I forgot about the NJT train. And I didn't know about Lucy.

Thanks again!

[chessimprov]

LUCY may not be running if there SEPTA is entirely on strike since it is a SEPTA program. You may have to hail a taxicab and be willing to pay a minimum fare for a short distance if that is the case. If this option turns out not to be feasible and this strike is long term, then you'd have to consider parking monthly in a garage such as the one on 40th and Walnut by Fresh Grocer. I don't know if you can park monthly there, but most likely you can.

[solibs]

Not sure what part of Cherry Hill the OP lives in but . . . if you live near Woodcrest it makes sense to take the Speedline and transfer to the el . . . but if you live in the western part of Cherry Hill you might want to look at NJTransit anyway. It's a little cheaper than PATCO and if you work for one of the Universities or hospitals you can ride LUCY for free. From their website - Employees and students of University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Health System, and VA Medical Center need only valid institutional ID. Trans or TrailPass, transfer, or $2.00 base fare for other riders

I used to commute from Collingswood to Chester via PATCO and the R2 and buying two monthly pa$$es killed me.

Originally Posted by chessimprov

LUCY may not be running if there SEPTA is entirely on strike since it is a SEPTA program. You may have to hail a taxicab and be willing to pay a minimum fare for a short distance if that is the case. If this option turns out not to be feasible and this strike is long term, then you'd have to consider parking monthly in a garage such as the one on 40th and Walnut by Fresh Grocer. I don't know if you can park monthly there, but most likely you can.

LUCY is a contract service - it's not part of the City Transit Division. So, had there been a strike, LUCY would have been unaffected just like regional rail and all of the suburban buses and trolleys.

[Sassygirl18]

I live on the west side, near the mall. I don't work for the universities or hospitals, but that free Lucy thing is good to know about (in case I ever do end up working at one of those places).

I've been taking the NJ Transit train the past couple of days and I like it. On day 1, I took the train to 30th Street Station and then walked to work (about a 20-25 minute walk).

On day 2, I was feeling a little tired so I decided to try the Lucy connection and that worked just fine, although it was stuck in traffic and wasn't any faster than walking.

I think I will continue to do the walking unless the weather is really bad, or I am really tired. I usually walk an hour a day anyway (for fitness) on my lunch hour, so I'll just do my fitness walking during my commute instead. Same difference.

I am considering using this new route permanently, although it would be a pain in bad weather. I guess on days with really bad weather, I can just go back to my old route. I like being on one train instead of having to do 2. I can relax and enjoy my book without interruption. I also like not having to use SEPTA and there's a certain part of my walk in University City that I don't enjoy that I can avoid now.

So we'll see.

Thanks again for the advice. It was very helpful to me.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by Sassygirl18

I am considering using this new route permanently, although it would be a pain in bad weather. I guess on days with really bad weather, I can just go back to my old route. I like being on one train instead of having to do 2. I can relax and enjoy my book without interruption. I also like not having to use SEPTA and there's a certain part of my walk in University City that I don't enjoy that I can avoid now.

If you wind up taking NJTransit regularly you can always keep a few SEPTA tokens in your bag for the bad weather days. When you get off at 30th St. you can make the weather call and if it's bad you walk across the street and catch LUCY or the El and get off at 40th like you used to.

. . . and if you're working near 40th St. anywhere south of the Ben & Jerry's I would take the trolleys from 30th St. as opposed to the El because it's a shorter walk. You can take any trolley except the #10 and get off at the first stop above ground - That's 40th & Baltimore. The stop right before that one is 37th & Spruce.

[Sassygirl18]

Hm, I haven't done the trolley. Not sure if that would work out better for me. I work around 40/41st and Chestnut so I think the El would be a shorter walk, right? Where is the trolley stop? (isn't it near Baltimore Ave)?

When the SEPTA strike is over, maybe I'll continue to take the NJ Transit Train to 30th Street station and transfer to the El there, or hop on Lucy if I am not up for the walk.

[solibs]

You're right. the El is better for you.